Where's my Ring?
by Antique.Clockwork
Summary: He knew he was in for a long day, when his boyfriend Orihara Izaya tossed him out of bed to look for a damn ring he had lost. But Shizuo supposed he had no one else to blame but himself in the end, seeing as he had planned it all out. -Shizaya


Aged 25, still young and in his prime, Heiwajima Shizuo decided he was way too stressed for someone of his age. His strength might have accounted for some percentage of the blame. The other remaining percentage could lay with his debt collecting clients, complaining customers, easily triggered temper and oh.

Let's not forget his lovely boyfriend, Orihara Izaya.

Stress often left Shizuo tired, angry and simply _exhausted_, for all the things he had to deal with, so when times of good, long hours of sleep or rest came to him, he was extremely grateful. This morning was a lucky morning for him, allowing him to sleep in with the sun's lazy rays bathing his golden skin, stomach pressed down into comfortable bedding and arms tucked underneath his fluffy, downy pillow. Dreamless and simply relaxing, Heiwajima Shizuo was enjoying his morning.

Until.

"Where is it?" a voice shouted, verging on the border of desperate and scared. Groaning, Shizuo buried his head under the pillow it was relaxing on moments prior to his ruined morning. But sleep would not return to him, the ruckus of a particular other being in the room ensuring that. Clothes from the previous night were being tossed onto the bed atop where Shizuo lay, and he could feel irritation slowly rising up.

Drawers were opened and then slammed shut, cupboard and wardrobe doors opened, and once again slammed shut. Altering levels, from to his knees, crouched halfway and then to standing on his tiptoes, Shizuo's sleep intruder let out a cuss every time his searching spots turned up empty without whatever he was looking for.

"Flea, what the _hell_ are you doing?" Shizuo grumbled, half awake and propped on one elbow as the sun glorified his bare torso. A hand was shoved promptly in his face, and Shizuo quickly observed the slender fingers and bony knuckles before it pulled itself away. Raising his eyes, he made eye contact with a panicked Orihara Izaya.

"It's gone," the voice cracked, before shoving the hand once again in his half asleep lover's face. Shizuo quickly counted, and looked back at the stressed informant.

"No… no, you still have all ten fingers."

"Not my _fingers_ you protozoan animal! My _ring!_" the younger male shrieked. "My _ring_ has gone missing!" Shizuo groaned 'for the love of God,' before tossing his head face down into the pillows. He was woken up for a damn _ring_? "The one on my left hand is still there, but the one on my right is _gone_!"

"Izaya, I'll buy you a new one, stop freaking out-"

"Buy me a _new_ one? I've lost what's made my identity, and you're saying you'll buy me a _new_ one?" And Shizuo groaned once again as he prepared himself for the onslaught of words that was about to come. "Do you know how long I've had those rings for Shizuo? They're _extremely_ important to me! They are _me!_ And how is it, after wearing both rings on my index fingers for years, that one just simply decided to up and go and _disappear_?"

"For fuck's sake Izaya," Shizuo growled before dragging his yelping boyfriend back into bed by the waist. Kicking and struggling, Shizuo found this method of shutting his boyfriend up may have been one of the worst. "Shut up, I'll look for it with you a while later, for now just let me _sleep_!" he growled into his boyfriend's stomach, arms wrapped around the base of his spine. Eyes glinting, soothing hands settled into blonde locks, and Shizuo thought for a moment, that he won.

How naïve.

"You'll help me look for it?"

* * *

><p>"Sheets."<p>

Sighing exasperatedly, Shizuo was wrestled out of the bed, despite his strength, Izaya had technique, and so he found himself standing at the end of the bed, shaking the sheets from the previous night's comfort. Seeing no shiny or silver object fall, Izaya shook his head at Shizuo, which in turn earned him an impatient growl.

"Mattress," his dark haired informant commanded, and Shizuo unwillingly obeyed, lifting the king sized double bed mattress with one hand and no troubles. Scanning the base of the bed, Izaya's eyes drooped like a kicked puppy when he found no ring. Shizuo almost felt bad for the flea, until those eyes glinted again with determination and barked another order.

"The whole bed."

"For crying out loud-"

* * *

><p>"Okay, ready, go!" Izaya counted down, kneeling on his couch with his head hanging over the edge, hands clutching the edge of the seat. Shizuo sighed again for the 17th time that morning and lifted up the end of the couch Izaya was sitting on. Clutching onto the soft leather for his dear life, Izaya peeked under the couch and saw no improvement, only dust bunnies and –<p>

"Oh! There's the remote control you lost last week Shizu!" Izaya chirped before rolling over to the side of the couch that wasn't lifted, making no effort to pick up the 'lost' remote control. "Okay. Now this side." And at that, Shizuo's vein popped in a corner of his face as he roared and ducked under the couch, picking it up as a whole above his head, and as a result, sending Izaya tumbling off. However, he should have expected his agile lover to roll to his feet and start searching the patch of floor that was different to the rest as inquisitive eyes lowered and his head shook a negative. Shizuo growled, and lowered the couch to its rightful place, but not before kicking the remote control out of its hiding place.

Standing up, his boyfriend's eyes scanned the glass coffee table, the TV stand, behind the TV, under the pot plant – "The _fuck_ is it doing _there_, Flea?" – and then under the expensive rug which covered a large expanse of their shared apartment floor. Crawling along the floor and resulting to searching methods which he would usually never resort to, Izaya searched high and low for the ring. Shizuo dropped his tired frame onto the couch, having lifted up several heavy items so early in the morning – to him, 11 was too early – had done its toll on his body. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes off the coffee table in front of him, and brought it to his lips, casting a quick glance at his roommate.

_'How dare you smoke that lung cancerous crap in my presence! I pay for this rent-' 'We both do.' –'and you smoke this to endanger my health in return?'_

Shizuo's eyes were raised to the ceiling as he thought of the usual argument that flittered between the two whenever he tried to light a stick inside the house. However, as he observed his boyfriend now, it looked as though his boyfriend was too preoccupied looking for the damn ring. Sneaking a lighter into his hand and expertly flicking a flame, he lit a cigarette and inhaled the calm nicotine which soothed his frazzled nerves. Exhaling, Shizuo was content, eyes drooping closed and arms thrown over the back of the couch.

Until-

"How dare you smoke that lung cancerous crap in my presence! I pay for this rent and you smoke this to endanger my health in return?" Sighing loudly for the 18th time, Shizuo leaned forward and put the lit stick out in the ash tray on the coffee table. _So much for that._

Throwing his whole body onto the couch and settling his head on the arm rest, Shizuo stared at the ceiling as he listened to kitchen drawers being withdrawn from their spots, and fridge doors opening and closing as cupboards soon joined the orchestra of sounds. Curses followed each action, and he listened to the storming footsteps make itself to the bathroom next. Shizuo almost cursed the fact that they had so many damn drawers as he listened to the cabinets and bathroom vanity drawers empty out, only to be shut again.

After another ten minutes of searching every room in the house, a distant 'fuck!' could be heard after the sound of a dull thud, earning a small smile on Shizuo's lips. He knew that thud all too well, and most likely Izaya's toe had stubbed against something similar to the bed post or wardrobe in their room. The storming continued around the house for another half an hour or so, and Shizuo could finally feel himself drifting off to sleep peacefully, totally unprepared for the onslaught of clothes that dropped onto his unsuspecting form.

Muffled under a pair of black jeans, a casual white button up and a pair of mismatched socks, Shizuo shook his head out of the pile and glared at the perpetrator responsible for the current mess. Said perpetrator glared back, dress in casual blue jeans, a grey v neck shirt and his signature fur-lined jacket.

"We're going out."

Shizuo let out his 19th sigh that morning.

* * *

><p>"Huh…? Your… ring?"<p>

Caught off guard by the sudden visit from the infamous dangerous duo, Kishitani Shinra opened his door to a distressed informant and an irritated debt collector.

"Have you seen it or not?" the boisterous black haired informant snapped. Shaking his head, Shinra looked confused as hell at the moment. Shizuo didn't blame him as Izaya stomped past, regardless of Shinra's response, and started opening and shutting every piece of furniture that held that function. Shinra stood in the hallway of his home, staring at the informant as Shizuo stood next to him, relaxed with his arms crossed.

"So where's Celty?" Shizuo asked absentmindedly, quickly gaining Shinra's attention. Shinra's expression beamed at the mention of his love, and his love metre quickly reached its limit.

"She's off delivering a few jobs this morning, but after that, she's done!" he cheered. Nodding, Shizuo and Shinra both watched as Izaya proceeded to crawl along the timber floor and observe every inch of it.

"Plans for tonight?" Shizuo mumbled, fingers itching to light a cigarette.

"Of course!" Shinra scoffed playfully, nudging Shizuo in the arm. "What kind of couple _doesn't_ have plans tonight?" Shizuo barked out a quick laugh at Shinra's comment, and Izaya's little display of dropping a remote control onto his head after bumping into the coffee table on his ascent up. "What about you, Shizuo? Anything planned? Because by the looks of it…" Shinra trailed off, as Shizuo only grinned in return. Shinra looked at the searching informant, back at Shizuo, his whole comfortable stance, and grinned.

"Oh you sly, you. You're really quite smart, aren't you Shizuo?" Shizuo shrugged, and Shinra only gushed at what was to come later tonight. "So you've planned this all out already? The whole escapade and all?" Shizuo shrugged again, and watched Izaya struggle to lift the end of the heavy couch and look under it at the same time.

"Sorta. Not really. Just gonna let things flow until they all fall into place," Shizuo said absentmindedly, struggling to keep the corners of his lips down as he almost laughed at Izaya's struggling. Shinra grinned and couldn't wait for tonight, seeing as he was probably more excited than the blonde.

But just to make sure…

Shinra quickly whipped his stethoscope on and slid the cold metal under Shizuo's shirt, which made the older man yelp and whip around to glare at the doctor. Content with his findings, Shinra poked a tongue out in his silly smile as he winked at Shizuo.

"Your heart's as fast as lightning, Shi~zu~o."

A slight red tinged his cheeks as he growled at Shinra, and was about to wring his neck before he heard a distressed-

"Shizu-chan! Help me damn it, the ring's not going to find itself!"

_Sigh._

20.

* * *

><p>"Oh! Shi<em>zu<em>o! I_za_ya! You come for sushi?" the deep, amiable voice of Simon boomed. Tapping his feet and crossing his arms angrily, Izaya glared up at the Russian giant while Shizuo gave a small wave.

"Not this time Simon, would you have happened to see my ring?" Izaya asked, wiggling his bare fingers in front of the tall, dark-skinned man. Shaking his head sadly as though he felt the same pain as Izaya, Simon said;

"No, very sorry, I_za_ya. Maybe you come in to eat sushi, sushi very yummy! Make you no hungry!" Frowning, Izaya shook his head no, until he saw familiar faces inside the restaurant, and ran inside. Shizuo and Simon both shared brief eye contact and shrugged nonchalantly at the same time. "You eat sushi, Shi_zu_o?"

"Nah, maybe next time-"

"Dotachin! Have you seen my ring!" the distant call cried out.

"He look for silver ring on right index finger, no?" Simon questioned, looking down at Shizuo. Shizuo laughed, nodding his head.

"Going all around town for the damn thing," Shizuo said lightly, grinning as he shoved his hands into his pockets. However, being as sharp as he was, Simon did not miss the subtle clue Shizuo had just given him.

"You still happy with him, yes?" Simon asked curiously, as he wondered how separating them from biting each other's heads off in high school turned into separating them from eating each other's mouths off in a private customer room.

"Of course. Willing to spend the rest of my life like this actually," Shizuo whistled lowly, content where he stood. Sunset was nearing, and the two still had no luck in returning the ring to its rightful finger. Deciding he stood back enough, Shizuo entered inside the restaurant to pull his nagging boyfriend away from the Dollars trio and Kadota.

Smiling, Simon let him pass and began to pass out more brochures.

"Fresh fish meat! We no use human!"

Chuckling, Shizuo found his lover interrogating every single person in the room, as Erika looked just as distressed with her dutiful partner Walker, whereas Saburo looked bored from his spot and Kyouhei furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Come on flea, none of these guys know. Stop bugging them and let's look somewhere else." Frustrated, Izaya let out a sharp noise of irritation and stormed out of the room. Kyouhei raised his eyebrows as Shizuo waved goodbye, but the action made Kyouhei's and Walker's mouth drop open, the sushi in Saburo's chopsticks to fall, and Erika's vocal chords prepare for the scream that was to come. Shizuo winked and brought a finger to his lips, shushing them all before following his lover out the door.

* * *

><p>"Sonohara-chan! Kida-kun! Air-conditioner-kun!" Izaya called out, running towards the high school trio. Looking mildly displeased at the sight of him, Anri raised her guard as Masaomi glared at the incoming intruder, Mikado, on the other hand mumbled an 'it's Ryuugamine.' Panting lightly, Izaya jumped straight to the question, confusing the three straight away. "Have you three seen my ring?"<p>

Calmly taking his time and walking up behind his well-known lover, Shizuo watched the three high school kids furrow their brows in confusion. Anri was the first to look at his hand and shake her head no, as Masaomi shrugged in an uncaring manner and said 'nope.' Mikado was last to catch on and bowed lightly, saying 'no, I haven't, sorry Orihara-san.' Shizuo smiled lightly at his sulking lover before steering him away from the three with an arm around sagged shoulders.

"Eh…? Wasn't…" Mikado began, effectively being shushed by Anri and Masaomi's hands.

"Shh. Let Izaya find out on his own."

* * *

><p>After searching every building and street Izaya walked on yesterday, and even going as far as climbing buildings and then dropping down in Shizuo's arms, Izaya took his turn to sigh dejectedly as the two settled down in a park, enjoying the setting sun. Sitting on the swings together, side by side, Izaya had finally given up looking for his ring. He watched other couples snuggle and hug, walking side by side to make it home, or even to a fancy restaurant as other couples decided to settle on park benches and kiss. The guilt of wasting this precious day away searching for a ring with Shizuo started to set in, but the grief he felt still wouldn't go away.<p>

Glancing at his handsome lover, the sun defined a toned jaw line, a straight nose, molten, honey eyes and tousled blonde hair, all attributes which made the man the brother of a famous and equally handsome Hanejima Yuuhei. Clenching the chains on his swing, Izaya felt some need to support the reason why he spent so long looking for a stupid piece of silver when he was supposed to be spending the fine spring day with Shizuo.

"That ring!" Izaya blurted out, shocking the blonde out of the comfortable silence the two had settled into. "That ring…" Izaya stammered, suddenly feeling slightly reluctant to give this piece of information out. He still had yet to get used to opening up in a relationship, and saying he'd do it was much easier than actually doing it. Raising his head and finding his resolve, Izaya stared out into the trees in the distance as he spoke.

"In high school, when I had just become 17, my parents died." Knowing this was probably unbelievably hard to say, Shizuo eased the informant's fingers that gripped the swing's chains tightly and held it gently in his own. Squeezing back, Izaya continued. "They were involved in a traffic accident, and I was suddenly called out of class into the office one day at school. I didn't know at first, why Mairu and Kururi were there. But they were crying. Soon, the police officers that met me at the office informed me, and I was lost.

"What was I supposed to do? I was 17, I wasn't legally old enough to look after my sisters, or myself. I was turning 18 in a year, but even that was long enough for them to threaten to separate us all into different foster homes." Shizuo could feel his lover's frame shaking, but he knew from experience that Izaya didn't like being held when he was vulnerable. It made him feel weaker, pathetic, and useless, and despite the fact Shizuo went against this thought and held him most of the time, he knew holding hands at the moment was the only thing he could do to comfort him.

"I lied about my age, I became involved with the Yakuza because of the funds they provided me, and hacked into the systems, changing my date of birth to a year behind. At my parents' funeral, they asked me, 'do you want to remove their jewelry, or leave them on?'" Shizuo stared straight ahead into the distance and pretended not to see the tears that threatened to fall in Izaya's eyes, knowing that he hated being open like this, to anyone, even including Shizuo.

"I was scared. I was left alone all of a sudden, and I suddenly had to take all responsibility. Gas, water, electricity, phone bills, rent, food, surviving, how do I pay it all off? The only thing I had from my parents was their unnecessary possessions, and the inheritance money, but that wouldn't last forever," Izaya laughed bitterly. "So I told them, I wanted their engagement bands they both wore on their right hands." Shizuo's eyes widened and he couldn't help but be entranced by the pink hue and teary eyes he had rarely ever seen on Izaya.

"I'm not so cruel as to take away their wedding bands, but I just needed something, you know? A reminder that would keep me tied down here." Shizuo tightened his grip and immediately felt guilty for all those times in high school he underestimated the stress the younger man was going through. He brought the shaking fingers to his lips and pressed gentle kisses on the knuckles, his hand, his fingertips. Feeling overwhelmed by the care, Izaya slipped his hand out of the gentle grasp and held onto the chains of his swing again. "Father's ring was on my right hand... His was larger. Mother's is on my left." After that, the two slipped into silence, confused as to what to say next.

"…So that's why it means so much to you," Shizuo settled on saying sympathetically, swinging lazily on his feet back and forth on the playground swings, the luminous sunset highlighting the park in a beautiful gold and orange lighting. Izaya looked at his lover for a moment before looking back down at the dirt at his feet, toeing his shoe in an embarrassed, almost shy way. He was over his little sentimental babble, finally feeling as though he could let go of the ring. Nodding an affirmative, his accurate eyes watched Shizuo in the corner of his eye, reaching for another smoke. Ever since they started a relationship together, Izaya noticed that Shizuo was attempting to cut back, and only ever smoked nowadays when he felt stressed.

_I dragged him all over the city practically, made him listen to my rambling, and he's come all this way for me… _Izaya suddenly thought, feeling guilty for dragging him everywhere and anywhere in search for a stupid _ring_. Sighing, Izaya could feel his body overflow with love he felt towards the man, he turned his head and opened his mouth to say his thanks-

Until he noticed something peculiar.

Covering the flame with one hand, and holding the lighter with the other, Izaya curiously watched as the blonde removed the lighter and inhaled deeply, lowering his other hand. His warm, calloused hand that explored Izaya well enough most late nights was raised to remove the stick and he gave a long blow of smoke, easing his nerves with nicotine. But the strange thing, the most peculiar little oddity that stuck out to Izaya, was that he was using his left hand to raise the cigarette away from his lips.

Shizuo was right handed.

And that's when he saw it, undoubtedly the shining silver piece of jewelry he had just spent the whole day searching for. Slipped comfortably on his lover's left hand, on his ring finger, was the very piece of jewelry that he had gone crazy over for the _whole day_. Flabbergasted, Izaya's mouth dropped open as he stared at the offending piece of jewelry, which apparently, after all this time, was on the _damn protozoan's finger_. Eyes glinting wickedly behind blue shades, the blonde brute turned his head to give his partner a sly grin, one Izaya considered sexy in bed, but _not _right after they had just spent a _whole day_ looking for the _damn thing_! Baffled, Izaya's mouth opened and closed like an idiot, unsure of what to say or feel.

"You're wearing your ring on the wrong finger, idiot," the arrogant voice chided. At those words, Shizuo leaned over, his breath ghosting close to Izaya as he leaned, closer, closer, _close _–

And that's when he felt the ring on his left hand leave, creating an empty, naked space where a tan line existed, and shifted to the ring finger .

And that's when Izaya raised his eyes to meet his lover's, and understood.

He could feel the heat rush to his cheeks, the tears sting in his eyes, and the arms of his lover as they wrapped around him, bringing him up to his feet. He wanted to cry, he wanted to laugh, to scream at the sheer irony of it all. But instead, he opted to cover his face and laugh, laugh it all off as Shizuo held him close to his warmth, arms wrapped securely around the shorter man. After the laugh subsided, Izaya could feel himself going crazy, as he opened his mouth to scold his lover for wasting the whole day looking for the ring, for making him expose a life story he could have avoided telling, he gazed up into the honey coloured gold, and the words were caught in his throat.

_He didn't waste the whole day_… Izaya realized as he stared into those depths of gold, asking the one question that the blonde had practically been asking all day. _He spent the whole day… with me_. Shaking, Izaya could only laugh again at the stupidity, the insanity, the-

_Love he feels for me_.

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya muttered shakily, laughing lightly as he fisted the vest underneath his fingers. "To… to propose in such a way…" Izaya buried his face deeper into the broad chest, shaking uncontrollably now. "And especially, on a day like this…" February the 14th seemed rather significant to him now, as he regret making fun of all the humans who displayed affection so publically, something that he couldn't find was as easy to do.

"Does that give me extra points?" the deep voice mumbled giddily, holding the lithe form closer to his body, as if that would confirm he wouldn't reject his embarrassing but silent marriage proposal. Fear struck Shizuo's chest as he felt the smaller figure's hands unfold from his chest, and removed themselves, and panic began to set in.

_Holy shit, what if_-

And his heart did a leap when the arms returned to wrap around his broadly toned body tightly.

"No. That gets you a proper consummation ceremony in summer."

_Happy late Valentines_!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ** Sorry about the lateness of it all! I was planning to update this yesterday, because I started writing this thing ON Valentine's day, but then fanfiction went under some sort of maintenance and I couldn't log in! D:

But this was just a little one shot made for Valentines and I hope you guys enjoyed!

Reviews and Criticisms are appreciated!


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